Crime and punishment: Colonial laws fail to deter crime
Many offences don’t carry the punishment to match the crime, says expert.
In 1934, the British resolved that factories would be fined Rs500 for breaking the rules. In those days, it was a stupendous amount. PHOTO: AYESHA MIR/FILE
KARACHI:
The commission of crime with impunity is a daily fact of life in Pakistan. Poor legislation is believed to be the reason behind the culture of impunity as experts believe that some laws in practice since the colonial period are failing to deter offenders.
“There is a state of impunity. Less strict punishments and meagre fines are failing to deter people from committing crimes. The crimes may be minor in nature but they have deep impact,” said Pakistan Institute of Labour and Research joint director Zulfiqar Shah.
There are a variety of offences such as child marriages, fake FIRs and destruction of public property that do not carry punishments to match the extent of the crime.
One such tragedy was the Baldia Town fire, where 259 workers perished in an inferno in September 2011. In 1934, the British resolved that factories would be fined Rs500 for breaking the rules. In those days, it was a stupendous amount. At that time, gold was cheap at just Rs20 per tola. Since 79 years, the price of gold has gone up to around Rs50,000 per tola, but the factory fines have remained the same.
“Non-serious attitude and non-implementation of the current laws are the reasons behind widespread violation of laws,” explained Shah.
Going in reverse
He pinpointed that instead of increasing the extent of punishment and the amount of fines, the government was decreasing the same as evident through the Industrial Relations Act 2012.
History is a witness to the fact that a former prime minister of Pakistan served the shortest jail term - imprisonment until the rising of the court - for defying court’s orders. Similarly, many pharmacists and drug dealers are often handed down the same kind of punishment by drug courts when found guilty.
In some cases, it is up to the court’s discretion to award the shortest jail term without imposing any fine on the accused. In other cases, the courts can’t award more than three to six months of imprisonment or fine more than Rs500 and 1,000 because the laws states so.
For instance, the Child Marriage Restraint Act, 1929, states that the punishment for child marriage is one-month imprisonment or a fine up to Rs1,000, or both.
“What will happen when a child is nourished inside a child’s womb,” asked Abdullah Langha of the Society for the Protection of the Rights of the Child. “The irony is that it is not a cognisable offence i.e. the police won’t take any action unless it is reported.”
Where the problem lies
“Our laws pertain to the 18th and 19th centuries while the criminals are operating with the mechanism and techniques of the 21st century,” said a public prosecutor of the anti-terrorism courts, Abdul Maroof. “This is one of the reasons why the laws and the courts are unable to control crime.”
Maroof said that the legislators were responsible for updating the laws, adding that there has never been a public debate on laws and they have always been enacted without taking the public into confidence.
“Our main statutory procedures are two centuries old. What change do you expect in laws in a province where the law secretary was appointed after six months,” said former prosecutor general Shahadat Awan.
Awan was of the view that special courts and laws should be curtailed to end class discrimination, political victimisation and misuse of discretionary powers as there was massive overlapping of the laws. “It’s time to unite all the parallel laws, especially the ones that overlap.”
Awan said that different laws on child rights have set different age limits for a minor. Somewhere it states 15 years, at other places 16 years and some also limit it up to 18 years.
Published in The Express Tribune, February 6th, 2014.
The commission of crime with impunity is a daily fact of life in Pakistan. Poor legislation is believed to be the reason behind the culture of impunity as experts believe that some laws in practice since the colonial period are failing to deter offenders.
“There is a state of impunity. Less strict punishments and meagre fines are failing to deter people from committing crimes. The crimes may be minor in nature but they have deep impact,” said Pakistan Institute of Labour and Research joint director Zulfiqar Shah.
There are a variety of offences such as child marriages, fake FIRs and destruction of public property that do not carry punishments to match the extent of the crime.
One such tragedy was the Baldia Town fire, where 259 workers perished in an inferno in September 2011. In 1934, the British resolved that factories would be fined Rs500 for breaking the rules. In those days, it was a stupendous amount. At that time, gold was cheap at just Rs20 per tola. Since 79 years, the price of gold has gone up to around Rs50,000 per tola, but the factory fines have remained the same.
“Non-serious attitude and non-implementation of the current laws are the reasons behind widespread violation of laws,” explained Shah.
Going in reverse
He pinpointed that instead of increasing the extent of punishment and the amount of fines, the government was decreasing the same as evident through the Industrial Relations Act 2012.
History is a witness to the fact that a former prime minister of Pakistan served the shortest jail term - imprisonment until the rising of the court - for defying court’s orders. Similarly, many pharmacists and drug dealers are often handed down the same kind of punishment by drug courts when found guilty.
In some cases, it is up to the court’s discretion to award the shortest jail term without imposing any fine on the accused. In other cases, the courts can’t award more than three to six months of imprisonment or fine more than Rs500 and 1,000 because the laws states so.
For instance, the Child Marriage Restraint Act, 1929, states that the punishment for child marriage is one-month imprisonment or a fine up to Rs1,000, or both.
“What will happen when a child is nourished inside a child’s womb,” asked Abdullah Langha of the Society for the Protection of the Rights of the Child. “The irony is that it is not a cognisable offence i.e. the police won’t take any action unless it is reported.”
Where the problem lies
“Our laws pertain to the 18th and 19th centuries while the criminals are operating with the mechanism and techniques of the 21st century,” said a public prosecutor of the anti-terrorism courts, Abdul Maroof. “This is one of the reasons why the laws and the courts are unable to control crime.”
Maroof said that the legislators were responsible for updating the laws, adding that there has never been a public debate on laws and they have always been enacted without taking the public into confidence.
“Our main statutory procedures are two centuries old. What change do you expect in laws in a province where the law secretary was appointed after six months,” said former prosecutor general Shahadat Awan.
Awan was of the view that special courts and laws should be curtailed to end class discrimination, political victimisation and misuse of discretionary powers as there was massive overlapping of the laws. “It’s time to unite all the parallel laws, especially the ones that overlap.”
Awan said that different laws on child rights have set different age limits for a minor. Somewhere it states 15 years, at other places 16 years and some also limit it up to 18 years.
Published in The Express Tribune, February 6th, 2014.